The Ancient World: Plagiarism by slaveofone
Those intimately familiar with the Hebrew Bible will at once be aware of numerous instances where the authors or editors of the texts could be charged with plagiarism (I put together a short list of some here). However, in the ancient world, this was not the moral or ethical dilemna it would be today. The opposite was the case. Originality was not necessarily a virtue. Writing and editing texts was a specialized art and being able to precisely copy something else or draw on a vast storage of shared literary heritage was considered participating in high craftsmanship.
Consider the following description of the Underworld as taken from three completely different texts composed and edited at different times in Babylonian history.
To the dark house, the abode of Irkalla,
To the house which none leave who have entered it,
To the road from which there is no way back,
To the house wherein the entrants are bereft of light,
Where dust is their fare and clay their food,
Where they see no light, residing in darkness,
Where they are clothed like birds, with wings for garments,
And where over door and bolt is spread dust.from The Descent of Ishtar
To the dark house, dwelling of Erkalla’s god,
To the house which those who enter cannot leave,
On the road where travelling is one way only,
To the house where those who enter are deprived of light,
Where dust is their food, clay their bread.
They are clothed, like birds, with feathers.
They see no light, they dwell in darkness.
They moan like doves.from Nergal and Ereshkigal
Seizing me, he led me down to the House of Darkness,
the dwelling of Irkalla,
to the house where those who enter do not come out,
along the road of no return,
to the house where those who dwell, do without light,
where dirt is their drink, their food is of clay,
where, like a bird, they wear garments of feathers,
and light cannot be seen, they dwell in the dark,
and upon the door and bolt, there lies dust.from the Epic of Gilgamesh
When we approach the biblical texts, it is easy to forget that a prophet, figurehead, or legendry personage didn’t write much (if any) of those texts, but they are to a large extent (in their final forms) the work of one or more elite scribal artisans. In whatever locale the scribes of ancient Israel wrought their art, and whatever their motive for editing, composing, or rewriting their texts, they were part of a certain social system of scholars and craftsmen much like their Mesopamian and Egyptian counterparts. They had no qualms taking something from someone else and incorporating it into their own work or even putting another’s name to it.